FORT COLLINS — Mary Brown was distraught and confused, and near tears because she did not know what to do with her beloved Tugg.

The 9-year-old miniature poodle had suffered a broken leg just a month ago. Brown was back in her veterinarian’s office after Tugg broke another leg after a run-in with her other dog, Rip, a 2-year-old coon hound.

“My husband and I are just now getting out of our hole with all the bills and all,” said Brown, her head in her hands. “I really don’t know what to do.”

Using a soothing voice, veterinarian Tim Paul walked Brown through several scenarios before arriving at a possible solution for her and her cash-strapped family. Perhaps the chronically ill Tugg needed to be euthanized.

“Now, I don’t want you to feel guilty about this,” Brown said. Later, after Brown left the room, Paul said: “I didn’t want her to feel I was judging her. I wanted her to be comfortable with her decision.”

Tugg and Mary Brown were not real. Tugg was pulled out of thin air, and Brown was one of several actors hired to work in a unique program at Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital designed to teach veterinarians good bedside manner.

Paul and about 50 other veterinarians from around the country were placed in different scenarios during two days of workshops at CSU’s Argus Institute.

The institute focuses on teaching CSU vet students and current veterinarians about communicating with pet owners.

Too often in the past, vet schools have concentrated on teaching technical skills while not emphasizing the importance of understanding the wants and needs of owners, said Argus Institute director Jane Shaw.

“We are great technically,” Shaw said. “Where we need help is communication.”

Clients who feel they have been listened to and consulted are more likely to follow through on treatment plans for their animals, she said.

“Once we get that connection with the client, there will be a lot more follow-through and the animal will get healthier more quickly,” she said.

The veterinarians usually worked in groups of four or five and met one-on-one with a client. Each client described a particular problem with a pet and asked for some kind of guidance.

The vets were told to emphasize open-ended questions, allow clients to complete their thoughts, express empathy and come up with a mutually agreeable action plan.

The clients were actors with experience in theater and film. Many have also worked in similar workshops with medical students.

Natara Loos, a veterinarian from Long Island, N.Y., who specializes in emergency care, said the workshops reminded her that science goes only so far in treating an animal.

“Vets are trained so much on the biomedical portion of treatment that sometimes our communication skills are lacking,” Loos said. “Sometimes, I think I should have studied a lot more psychology.”

Actress Christie Cass, who played Mary Brown, said she was impressed by most of the vets.

“Being able to communicate with the owner of a client is really a gift,” Cass said. “To be able to comfort them and listen to what they have to say goes a long way.”

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